• AUSTRALIA $2.00 • BELGIUM BF60 • CANADA $2.00 • FRANCE FF1 0 • ICELAND Kr150 • NEW ZEALAND $2.50 • SWEDEN Kr12 • UK £1.00 • U.S. $1.50 INSIDE 'Militant' subscription goal within reach- 414 to go! THE -PAGES A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 61 NO. 37 OCTOBER 27, 1997 Cuban party Equal rights for congress strengthens all immigrants! socialist N.Y., L.A. actions condemn anti-immigrant laws course of BY FRANCISCO PICADO revolution NEW YORK- "We are here and we are not leaving," chanted hundreds of people in BY MARTIN KOPPEL Spanish, marching through Manhattan in de­ AND MARY-ALICE WATERS fense of immigrant rights October 12. The HAVANA- "We are open to all options more than l,200 demonstrators included and all experiences- all except surrender­ contingents from cities such as Los Ange­ ing, except giving up socialism, except re­ les; Chicago; and Lawrence, Massachusetts. nouncing the gains of the revolution and the It was one of several regional actions held power held by the people, except allowing that day across the United States. others to be the masters of our country." Among the marchers were workers and Affirmation of this fundamental political young people born in Mexico, Bangladesh, course was at the center of Cuban president Poland, Haiti, Morocco, Korea, Puerto Rico, Fidel Castro's opening report to the Fifth the United States, and many other countries. Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, "We are here demanding amnesty for held here October 8-l 0. Bangladesh ... and all immigrants," said It was confirmed by the almost I ,500 Mafizur Rahman, pointing to the contingent delegates attending the gathering and was of some 150 Bangladeshis. Rahman is a part­ voiced repeatedly both in the congress dis­ time construction worker and cab driver in cussion and on the street by working people Queens. General amnesty for all immigrants who followed the deliberations on televi­ was a central demand of the action. sion and radio, which broadcast many hours ''I'm here to make it clear that we're go­ Continued on Page 10 ing to put a halt to the racism against immi­ grants," said Jose Antonio Padilla, a mem­ Militant/Hilda Cuzco ber of Local 79 of the Laborers' Interna­ Marchers demanding immigrant rights in New York City, October 12. tional Union of North America. Other Workers in unions present were the Union of Machine Workers of America. if they take us away, we're coming right Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Em­ Close behind the laborers were more than back," they chanted. ployees, Service Employees International 100 Salvadorans from Hempsted, Long Is­ New immigration laws that are about to Asia resist Union; Teamsters; Brotherhood of Carpen­ land, and Newark and Elizabeth in New Jer­ go into effect will make gaining legal resi­ ters; and the United Electrical, Radio, and sey. "We are here and we're not leaving, and Continued on Page 4 austerity Amtrak workers prepare for strike measures BY MAURICE WILLIAMS BY RUTH ROBINETT Workers and students have begun to or­ NEW YORK- The 2,300 members of ganize protests against austerity measures the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way imposed by the regimes in Southeast Asia Employees (BMWE) who work at Amtrak in response to continued economic turmoil are preparing for a possible strike against in the region. Transport workers struck in The Changing Face of u.s. Politics the national passenger railway. Recent ne­ the Philippines and paralyzed traffic in eight WORKING-CLASS POLITICSANDTHETRADE UNIONS gotiations between the company and the cities demanding a reversal of increased oil Jack Barnes union have yielded little progress. prices and calling for a pay raise. Under this A handbook for workers coming into the factories, mines, and mills, Earlier, the BMWE blasted Amtrak for pressure, the Philippine Supreme Court is­ as they react to the uncertain life, ceaseless turmoil, and brutality of rejecting wage recommendations from a sued a 30-day injunction October 7 on any capitalism in the closing years of the twentieth century. It shows how government-appointed board and for refus­ new price increases. millions of workers, as political resistance grows, will revolutionize ing to negotiate a contract with the union Some 16,000 aerospace workers in themselves, their unions, and all of society. Regular price $19.95 Plus under those recommendations. The wage Bandung, Indonesia, struck October 13 and $1 0 for the subscription. recommendations are the same as those that held mass rallies protesting threatened lay­ were agreed to last year between the BMWE offs. Indonesian students rallied October 6 Che Guevara: Economics and Politics and other Class-1 railroads. Despite argu­ outside the Bulog- the state monopoly that in the Transition to Socialism ments by the union, the "presidential emer­ regulates food prices - demanding the res­ Carlos Tablada gency board" did not recommend the same ignation of its director and a price freeze Quoting extensively from Guevara's writings and speeches on building socialism, this book benefit, job security, or work rule improve­ Continued on Page 12 presents the interrelationship of the market, economic planning, material incentives, and vol­ ments that were also part of the agreement. untary work;· and why profit and other capitalist categories cannot be yardsticks for measur­ Instead, it recommended that these and other ing progress in the transition to socialism. Regular price $17.95 plus $10 for the local issues be placed into binding arbitra­ subscription. tion for final resolution. BMWE members at Amtrak have worked without a general wage increase for more than two years. The union organizes workers who construct and maintain railroad tracks, buildings, bridges, and electrical systems that power trains. El rostro cambiante de Ia politica A strike could close down service for en Estados Unidos 600,000 railroad riders and affect much of LA POLiTICA OBRERA Y LOS SINDICATOS the 22,000 mile Amtrak system. Commuter Regular price $21.95 plus $6 for the subscription. trains in the Northeast Corridor- from Washington, D.C., to Boston- would be Che Guevara: economia y politica en Ia affected, as well as service in Los Angeles, transici6n al socialismo San Diego, and San Francisco, Amtrak Regular price $19.95 plus $6 for the subscription. said. Also, Conrail's freight service along the Northeast corridor and local commuter Available from bookstores listed on page 12, or from Pathfinder, 410 West St., New York, NY I 0014. service would be affected. New Jersey Fax: (212) 727-0ISO.If ordering by mail, please include $3 to cover shipping and handling. governor Christine Todd Whitman urged Continued on Page 4 Why 'Militant' opposes bosses' trade pacts- page 14 Zimbabwe farm workers strike vestigation began in Janu­ Farm workers in Zimbabwe launched · ary when McKinney's their first national strike in that country's former public relations aide history in late September demanding sub­ Sergeant Brenda Hoster al­ stantial wage increases. The farm work­ leged that he made sexual ers, who are among the lowest paid work­ advances at her during an ers in the country, are demanding a 135 April 1996 conference in percent increase. The bosses' Commer­ Hawaii. cial Farmers' Union (CFU) offered a mere 20 percent raise. The CFU called for gov­ Antiabortion bill ernment intervention into the dispute. vetoed On October 7 in Trelawney, Zimbabwe, Clinton again vetoed a normally one of the most productive zones ban passed by Congress for tobacco and horticulture, 15,000 strik­ against the late-term abor­ ing farm workers brought production to a tion procedure called "in­ standstill, blocking off roads and holding tact dilation and extrac­ rallies. The government deployed armed tion," on grounds that it did police and helicopters to patrol the 144 not include an exception mostly white-owned farms. The cops ar­ when the health of the rested more than 100 protesters. The As­ woman is in serious jeop­ sociated Press said that some farm work­ ardy. Supporters of the ban ers destroyed crops. General Agricultural on what they have mis­ and Plantation Workers Union spokesper­ named "partial-birth abor­ son Cuthbert Hute called for a return to Panamanians celebrate the transfer of Albrook Force to Panama October 1. Under the Panama tion" say they will try to work October 9, but strikers stayed out. Canal treaties of 1977, Washington must remove all U.S. military forces from Panama by Dec. 31, 1999. override the veto this year. If enacted, it would be the U.S. war jets fly deeper into Iraq Naiarbayev accepted Kazhegeldin's resig­ teen elite cops were implicated in the Sep­ frrst ban on an abortion procedUre since the U.S. secretary. of defense William Cohen nation for "health reasons" the former prime temi:Jer 8 disappearance and execution-style 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling le­ announced October 9 that U.S. jet fighters minister had been under attack from other killing of six Mexican youth. After initial galized abortion. will be "flying farther north [into Iraq] than government members for allegedly secretly denial, cops admitted that evidence found they were before- in other words, they're acquiring shares in Kazakhstan's lucrative by the press matched the blood of the dead 'No selling off of Panama!' going deeper into the no-fly zone" which oil refineries. He denied the charges. youth to blood traces in one of the police About a dozen people picketed outside extended to the 33rd parallel. The aircraft trucks. the offices of the Organization of American carrier U.S.S. Nimitz arrived in the Persian Mexican cops 'disappear' States (OAS) October 7. They carried picket Gulf October 12, flanked by several U.S.